Here is an update from the folks who organized the campaign, “Stop Columbia St. High Rise” from an email announcement dated Oct. 23.
Thank you for your support this past year to advocate for responsible development in our Middletown residential hillside neighborhood, and to specifically oppose the proposed 3677 Columbia Street high-rise.
Here are some highlights since our last status:
The 3677-3687 Columbia St high rise project is “paused”, according to the developer. The City also confirms there has been no recent progress on this project. After hiring several different firms over the last year, the developer’s geotechnical earthquake fault report is not completed and has outstanding actions. You may recall that the most recent California Geological Survey peer-reviewed official report accurately locates an active fault on these two lots.
Our August protest event was successful to draw much-needed attention to the issues for this ill-conceived project — parking, traffic, egress, fire safety, earthquake safety, airport obstruction, community character, little/no affordable housing. One result is that we have started to dialog our issues with the developer, Elda Developments, since early September. These are constructive small group discussions. We continue to communicate our neighborhood concerns, and emphasize that the project should comply with the RM-2-5 base zoning and Uptown Community Plan.
Elda Developments asserts that they are reducing the project scope but have not disclosed the updated building plans. This is good news, but we are cautiously watching what new direction may be undertaken since the development project applications remain open at the City. We do support responsible growth and improvement to our neighborhood and specifically on these lots. We hope that a new design does not create a myriad of problems for our community, benefitting a single developer to the detriment of the hundreds of nearby residents and businesses.
Unfortunately, our District 3 Councilmember Whitburn continues to be silent, ignoring the many community requests to dialog the impacts of the Columbia Street and the Ft Stockton Complete Communities high rises. To be polite, we feel ignored and not represented by our council members — a similar sentiment expressed by many neighborhoods.
We are grateful to be a part of the San Diego Community Coalition, collaborating with 25+ San Diego community groups fighting these same issues. Mission Hills, Point Loma, Golden Hill, College Area, Clairemont, Linda Vista, Encanto Pacific Beach have been in the news recently.
The City’s advisory Community Planners Committee, comprised of members from all of the City’s community planning groups, will soon be evaluating and recommending changes to the city’s land use code. We intend to be part of that effort, and advocate for constructive changes to the harmful aspects of the Complete Communities municipal code that have encouraged irresponsible projects like Columbia St and Fort Stockton in our neighborhood.
We appreciate your ongoing support and respectful opposition to this harmful project. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to join us at StopColumbiaHighRise. Your ongoing donations are vital—our legal team’s work will be at the forefront in the phase ahead. Donate Here.
